Linking Plant Movement to Plant Awareness

Plants are commonly perceived as passive organisms, forming a colorful background to our daily lives. However, plants are in constant motion and have evolved sophisticated mechanisms to cope with and adapt to an ever-changing environment. The difficulty in perceiving plant movement lies in the fact that it occurs on a timescale different from that of animals, contributing to the phenomenon of plant awareness disparity (i.e., the human tendency to overlook plants and their ecological relevance). Here, we investigated whether observing plant movement on a human timescale might modulate the way we attend to them. We combined single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (spTMS) with motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) recordings to assess motor system activation while participants observed actions involving approaching and grasping a pole, performed either by a pea plant or a human. Control conditions included static stimuli, rotating movements, and human actions performed in a plantlike manner. Furthermore, the participants' sensitivity to the role and importance of plants for human life and other living organisms was assessed by means of an ad-hoc questionnaire. The results showed a specific effect of motor facilitation when observing rotating and clasping movement of plants, but not for plants standing still. This effect likely reflects the cognitive effort required to interpret unfamiliar biological actions. An effort that was reduced in participants who were more sensitive to plants and had greater plant-related knowledge and awareness. These findings suggest that making plant movement perceptually accessible enhances motor resonance with the green kingdom and may provide an effective strategy to reduce lack of plant awareness.